NATIONAL NEWS

CNN names Kaitlan Collins to fill prime-time vacancy in Chris Cuomo’s old slot

May 17, 2023, 10:53 AM

FILE - Journalist Kaitlan Collins poses for photographers as she arrives at the annual White House ...

FILE - Journalist Kaitlan Collins poses for photographers as she arrives at the annual White House Correspondents' Association Dinner in Washington, on April 29, 2023. Collins will host a new show at the center of its prime-time lineup, the 9 p.m. Eastern hour regularly next month. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)
Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS

(AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)

NEW YORK (AP) — CNN said Chris Cuomo and as the network’s ratings are at a low ebb.

Collins will begin regularly hosting the 9 p.m. Eastern show next month, the network said Wednesday, making the announcement during a Warner Discovery sales presentation to advertisers.

The ex-White House correspondent moderated CNN’s town hall with former President Donald Trump last week, but was generally held blameless for criticism the event received.

“She is a smart and gifted journalist who we’ve all seen hold lawmakers and newsmakers accountable,” CNN Chairman Chris Licht said in a memo to staff members. “She pushes politicians off their talking points, gets real answers — and as everyone who’s worked with her knows — breaks a lot of news.”

It’s the biggest move by Licht, who became CNN’s leader last year, to put his imprint on the prime-time lineup, which has lagged far behind Fox News and MSNBC in viewership.

In continuing Collins’ meteoric rise at CNN, Licht has something in common with his predecessor Mark Zucker, who noticed and hired Collins full-time based on her occasional guest appearances on CNN. Collins had been working for The Daily Caller, a conservative website launched by Tucker Carlson.

Licht had named Collins to host a revamped morning show with Poppy Harlow and Don Lemon that began last November. With Lemon fired and Collins elevated, Harlow will work with guest anchors until morning changes are announced in the months ahead, Licht said in his memo.

CNN has rotated guest hosts in the evening since December 2021, when Cuomo was fired after the network said he was not forthcoming about help offered to his brother, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. At the time, Cuomo hosted CNN’s top-rated show.

The network has struggled to gain traction without him. On Monday, for example, CNN averaged 454,000 viewers in the time slot, compared to Rachel Maddow’s 2.41 million viewers on MSNBC and Sean Hannity’s 1.97 million on Fox, the Nielsen company said.

Last Friday, with Anderson Cooper on duty for a second hour at 9 p.m. and reaching an audience of 293,000, CNN slipped behind the conservative Newsmax network and host Chris Plante’s “Right Squad” in viewership, Nielsen said.

CNN last month announced the pairing of Charles Barkley and Gayle King for another prime-time show starting later this year, although that will be once a week.

To the advertisers, CNN tried to increase anticipation by showing clips of King and Barkley. “She’s going to be a straight shooter,” Barkley said. “You know I’m going to be a straight shooter.”

In his appearance, Licht emphasized CNN’s newsgathering and said it was more important now than ever.

“We prioritize reporting over punditry and separate the news from the noise,” he said.

National News

Associated Press

Georgia joins states seeking parental permission before children join social media

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia could join other states in requiring children younger than 16 to have their parents’ explicit permission to create social media accounts. Lawmakers on Friday gave final approval to Senate Bill 351, which also would ban social media use on school devices and internet services, require porn sites to verify users are […]

26 minutes ago

Associated Press

Cranes arriving to start removing wreckage from deadly Baltimore bridge collapse

BALTIMORE (AP) — The largest crane on the Eastern Seaboard was being transported to Baltimore so crews on Friday can begin removing the wreckage of a collapsed highway bridge that has halted a search for four workers still missing days after the disaster and blocked the city’s vital port from operating. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore […]

1 hour ago

Associated Press

Georgia House approves new election rules that could impact 2024 presidential contest

ATLANTA (AP) — The Georgia House of Representatives on Thursday approved new rules for challenging voters and qualifying for the state’s presidential ballot that could impact the 2024 presidential race in the battleground state. The House passed Senate Bill 189 by a vote of 101 to 73. It now goes to the state Senate for […]

2 hours ago

Associated Press

Ex-Caltrain employee and contractor charged with building secret homes with public funds

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A former employee of Caltrain, a mass transit system that connects Silicon Valley with San Francisco, and a former contractor for the transit agency allegedly used public funds to build two small apartments for themselves inside two train stations, authorities said Thursday. San Mateo County prosecutors charged Joseph Vincent Navarro, a […]

3 hours ago

Associated Press

Oregon city can’t limit church’s homeless meal services, federal judge rules

BROOKINGS, Ore. (AP) — A federal judge has ruled that a southern Oregon city can’t limit a local church’s homeless meal services. U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Clarke found that an ordinance passed by the small city of Brookings, on the southern Oregon coast, violated the religious freedom rights of St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church, KGW reported. […]

3 hours ago

Associated Press

Baltimore bridge collapse puts the highly specialized role of ship’s pilot under the spotlight

The expert pilots who navigate massive ships in and out of Baltimore’s port must often maneuver with just 2 feet (0.6 meter) of clearance from the channel floor and memorize charts, currents and every other possible maritime variable. The highly specialized role — in which a pilot temporarily takes control of a ship from its […]

6 hours ago

CNN names Kaitlan Collins to fill prime-time vacancy in Chris Cuomo’s old slot